Extremely High Levels Of Radiation Detected At 2 Schools In Chiba Prefecture

ABIKO, Chiba — High levels of radiation have been detected on the premises of two elementary schools here, local education authorities have revealed.

According to the Abiko Municipal Board of Education, 11.3 microsieverts of radiation per hour was detected just above the surface of the ground near a ditch in the compounds of the Abiko Municipal Daiichi Elementary School on Sept. 15. The amount was 1.7 microsieverts in the air 50 centimeters above the ground.

Soil had piled up in the ditch, which had been damaged by growing tree roots, a situation similar to a residential area of the Chiba Prefecture city of Kashiwa where 57.5 microsieverts per hour was detected.

Radioactive cesium amounting to 60,768 becquerels per 1 kilogram of soil was found in the ditch.

The amount of radiation 50 centimeters above the ground had declined to 0.6 microsieverts per hour by Oct. 7 after the soil was removed.

The Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology Ministry pointed to the possibility that rain water contaminated with radioactive cesium overflowed from the ditch, soaked the nearby soil and accumulated in it.

At the Abiko Municipal Namiki Elementary School, 10.1 microsieverts per hour of radiation was detected near the surface of the ground where sludge removed from its swimming pool had been buried.

The school covered the area with a waterproof tarp and piled up dirt on the tarp to decrease the radiation emissions, after which 0.6 microsieverts per hour was detected 50 centimeters above the ground.

The two schools have sealed off the areas where high levels of radiation were detected.

1 thought on “Extremely High Levels Of Radiation Detected At 2 Schools In Chiba Prefecture”

You call “up to” 11 microSievert/hr a “extremely high level”? Well it is natural still background radiation level in Guarapari , Brazil , where the beach has level from 5-130 microSievert/hr. There are many places in the world , and probably in Japan as well where this level is natural. The rocky-mountains and in general ,the Pacific “ring of fire” is more radioactive than average. Even cleaning out the mud containing the RA-Cs in the pit as labour is not even dangerous. These hotspot are easy traceable with a Geiger counter and the origin collectable for removal and storage on safe landfill sites. Half-time is 30 Years so this ground has to remain isolated for about some 300 year to lose it radiation to 1/1000 the original value. Arsenic containing soil is generally more dangerous than that.